Monday, August 22, 2011

Whew! What a weekend! It was jam packed and productive, but I honestly feel like I didn't even have one.

Friday evening we had a little Date Night and went to dinner and a movie. Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Good but sad.

Saturday, in addition to cleaning, we got started on the fence! Yes, you heard that correctly. Those fence posts (at least 1 side of them) that we put in months ago, finally have something attached to them! I'll be taking photos tonight to share with you tomorrow as Cory has one more tiny thing to do on that side today before we finish. I'm uber excited, and it's starting to look like a real backyard now... You know, except without a yard, and just dirt. ;)

We hit up a bonfire at a friends' house Saturday as well. Sunday was full of more building, free lunch at Rockford (thanks to a golf tournament prize) and a delicious dinner was had last night at <a href="http://themeltingpot.com">The Melting Pot</a> . It was our first visit and we left Sooooo stuffed! Thank goodness though for a gift card we had, as it was pretty pricey (didn't realize my drinks were $18 a piece- yikes!)

Got a great surprise today too. A co-worker brought in 4 books of coupons! Great to hear how helpful my friends and family are being. What'd YOU do this weekend? Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Just a quick note, if you're a fan of the iconic Barcelona chair (but aren't too hung up on a reproduction), the Interior Designer at work just mentioned that London Drugs has them on super sale for $199 which INCLUDES the ottoman!

She's seen them there for 399 before, but never this low! Go quick, at that price I'm sure they won't last! Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Two weekend ago, I bought a bunch of new jewelery. The dress I wore to the wedding had gold in it, and I didn't own any gold pieces except the earrings I bought in January to go with it.

I wanted something fun and a little chunky. I lucked out and found a package of about 10 bangles. They're all different and gold. With two also being the perfect blue to go with my dress. There are some bamboo looking ones, one with animal print looking cut outs, a nailhead looking one, etc. At $15 it was a little more than I wanted to spend, but they've been working their way into my wardrobe a ton lately so they're cost per wear seems to be paying off!

I never thought I was a gold person, since my cool toned skin looks best with cool colors but I was surprised to see how often the gold is more applicable for certain outfits.

Just goes to show you, sometimes it's nice to throw a little unexpected accessory in your cart to add a little WOW to your wardrobe! Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry

Anyways, I have the afternoon off, so just running around doing some errands, napping and getting things ready for Cory to get off work so we can head out to the lake. But I wanted to share another coupining story with you, since that's all I've been up to lately.

Quick note: SDM also had Purex laundry detergent on sale for $2.99 last Sunday and Monday only. Unfortunately, my store was sold out when I went in. I asked about a raincheck and they gave me one, even though I later found out they aren't suppossed to do them for the special buy prices....

This worked out perfect as my Purex coupon/sample had not arrived yet.
It came in this week $3.00 off, so I am looking forward to picking up my FREE bottles when they are in!!

Friday, August 5, 2011

I was in HomeSense the other day and found myself constantly whipping out my camera phone! I actually texted Cory some photos with the words "I love these, so hard!" In fact, there was a million things in the store that had me wishing I didn't have a vacation and a backyard and fence in my budget already.

There were a ton of things in the store that I thought would be perfect in our house. Everything had that perfect vintagey-french look I love, combined with a slightly rustic, well worn, industrial Restoration Hardware vibe that we both love.

Here are a few things that had me swooning and declaring aloud my desire to save my pennies:

These gorgeous grey beauties were the first thing I saw when I walked in the store! There were six of them. Exactly what I want. Loved the fabric - perfect linen! Love the button tufting. Love the nailhead detail. Plus, they were super comfy!!

When I sent them to Cory, he loved them as well. We decided that maybe these would be great in our space if we switched out our table to something white. Perhaps, a simple white lacquer Parsons table?

They also had them in a neutral linen and pretty white. Which would look good with our current table.

swoon....

I immediately thought of Cory and our eventual basement when I saw this table. It's exactly the kind of thing he's typically drawn to. Surprisingly enough, I've also become enamored with the style as well. Plus, I bet it's about 10 times cheaper here than RH!

There was a ton of amazing artwork. Unfortunately, that's where my stupid phone died. I did manage to snag one pic though.

I thought this great birch print would look great in our house. Infact, I just about bought a couple pieces before realizing it would be smarter to save my giftcard and a few more to eventually get something awesome like a whole set of chairs!

Since getting into Couponing pretty crazily last week, I am happy to say I've scored a bunch of amazing deals lately. In addition to getting some great prices with coupons, I also managed to score some free items, simply by paiying attention to my bill!

One thing I found out last week was that I really need to pay attention to the prices of items I'm purchasing. Two items on my bill the other day were scanned incorrectly! That error on Walmart's part got me some free juice AND some Skinny cow fudge bars!

It also got me thinking about how many times, I had purchased something because of the low price, only to feel confused and shocked when my total bill was quite a bit more than I expected. I never, ever double checked it though!!

Guess who's changed the way she shops? I'm now carting a notebook with me to the grocery store and writing down my prices and verifying them when they scan. I'm thinking this little act is gonna save me a ton of money....

Then off to Walmart I went to have this baby printed into an 11x14. They didn't have a 12x12 option they way I was printing (I've learned my lesson now and will most likely re-print down the line).

I simply popped off the backing and using a fresh piece of scothc tape, adjusted the scrapbook paper.

The re-positioned the photo and attached it to the backing with even more scotch tape (yeah, we're fancy like that over here!)

Then, just like that, pop the backing back on, and hang back up on the wall!

Admittedly, I want to get a better quality copy of the photo so that the resolution of the print is better when I print it. I will also print the photo to the proper size so it fits entirely behind the mat.

But for now, it's 100% times better than what we had before. Remember:

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

We ventured off for a couple days to actually make something of our vacation and do some camping. It was only 2 hours away, but it was pretty secluded, near Rocky Mountain House, and there were warning signs for Bears, so it was pretty rugged. Not to mention that there were no showers... or flush toilets.. or running water like Cory promised there'd be. Nope, just really stinky outhouses and a ton of baby wipes and hand sanitizer the last 2 days. I'm glad to be home!

I figured I would share a couple shots of our set-up, since we really didn't take too many photos.

Here's a quick shot of our kitchen/dining space:

That little awning deal is a lifesaver. It's perfect for when it's raining, cause at least you have a place to cook, eat or even play some card games. Especially when there aren't any good trees around for hanging tarps!

Then onto the living room:

Yes, as you can see, we forgot that the only tarp we had was the world's smallest and most expensive tarp. We bought it last year last minute when it poured all weekend. Unfortunately for us, we bought it at a Sports Equipment store, right on the main street in Banff. $$!

you may have noticed the sleeping bag laying on ground next under Cory's feet. That's Finley's play area. It's a cheapo nylon sleeping bag we open up and put close enough to a tree to tether her, close enough to the fire that she's warm at night but far enough away that the bag (nor she) gets hit with flying embers. Plus, her toys and her food and water station is right there. Our little girl loves it!

Next up is the bedroom. I didn't get any interior shots, but here's the exterior:

You can't see just how big it is, but it took up the bulk of our site. They market is as an 8 person tent. But in my opinion, with a double and a single air mattress and two overnight bags. This perfectly fits two adults and a medium to large dog. LOL Who rates these things anyhow?

But the biggest lifesaver of the weekend was the addition of a new storage item for our camping gear. Regularly, we cram almost all our camping stuff into two large Rubbermaid bins. Then, anytime you need something, you have to take every single item out as invariably, the item you need is at the bottom!

Not this time, I decided instead to repurpose a plastic drawer unit that was going underused in our guest closet. Perfect!!